I don't want to play your game Riley, I want to build around what we have. There is not ONE WAY to build a team....your rosters sucks in so many ways. Lowry can not shoot - the defense would not honor his jumpshot Ariza - see Lowry Good SG - would get the same treatment AB gets now Yao - well of course Landry - a defensive nightmare. Basically all you did was shift the scoring role from the PG to the SG, but still not give him anyone else to pass the ball to on the perimeter to make a shot. I would trade Lowry and get that SG....that can compliment the team. More than any other position on the court the PG's contributions rely on whom they are playing with....... Give Brooks even CBUD in the starting lineup over Battier or Trevor and the offense would be so much better. Brooks is our answer at PG for the next 10 years. AB has been very good on defense, and if you put Yao in there protecting the paint you can go more offensively oriented. I don't get the AB can't play defense argument it has no merit at all, he has outplayed almost every PG he goes up against.....it is a tired argument that is flat out wrong. DD
The new wave of PGs in the NBA have adulterated the minds of today's fans. Why are you guys so obsessive of a PG with CP3 like qualities? You don't need a player like that to win a championship. Lets go through the last couple of championships that were won shall we and the PGs on the teams. Derrick Fisher Rajon Rondo Tony Parker Dwade (played PG for the heat championship series plently) Billups Fast rewind even further, goto the bulls dynasty, the rockets, the bulls dynasty again, and the pistons with Isiah. Is it just me or do you guys notice a trend?!!??!? None of those teams had a top 3 PG! All were Point guards that were used for their scoring mostly. In fact the teams with the top PGs were actually beaten. Steve Nash by Parker led Spurs Derrick Fisher vs Jason Kidd and whoever else John Stockton was beaten by the bulls twice in a row. This obsession you guys have is a becoming a disease. You fail to realize that the archetype of a "PG" you are trying to glorify does no good on a championship team! Give me the combo guard that can take over during dry spurts and give me the able wing or big man. The versatility of a team is what grants them a championship. Apart from Magic no pure PG has really gotten their team a championship while playing at the core. I realize that the NBA has turned into a guard frenzy, but please stop the lunacy because everytime I hear about "Oh but he SG in PG body no work!" I barf a little inside because the ignorance is beyond belief.
Ok, I guess we're done then. I'm not trying to be an ass. I'm actually curious as to how one might build a contender with AB as an important piece. I personally don't see it and I'd love to see someone else in this thread put out a lineup with AB that works. Hell, maybe I'll do it myself: Starting Unit AB Caron Butler (above average 2 way player; I'm assuming we use Tmac and Lowry to get him) Ariza Scola Yao Bench - Standard Backup PG - Buddinger/Battier - Landry/Dorsey/Hayes - Player from Washington I don't know if I've shorted us in terms of assets in this scenario, but i don't think we could get a MLE player to shore up the bench. I'm assuming that under the Washington trade, we won't be able to both keep Scola and get a MLE player. I think I'm ok under cap and tax constraints. This kind of a roster is pretty good, but I like the configuration with Lowry better.
I can't tell whether you're for a traditional PG or an AB. Except the pistons, all the past champions have had an elite player. So maybe we're all deluding ourselves into thinking that the Rockets have any chance at contending because we don't have that. But if our only real chance is to build a team that's stacked with multiple very good players, like the Pistons, the question of resource allocation and structuring of the team is critical. Hence the discussion, I think.
I'll give it a try: Starting: -AB -C. Butler -Ariza -Landry -Yao Bench: -Lowry -Battier / M. Miller -Haywood / Hayes / Dorsey -our 1st round pick For this scenario I'm assuming we trade TMAC + Scola + Budd for Butler + Haywood + Miller + their 2nd round pick. This team has height, inside scoring, perimeter play, defense, specialists (3 pt and defense), youth, and experienced vets. The biggest obstacle in this situation would be (besides the trading part lol) resigning Haywood. But if we can find a way to trade away D. Anderson we could offer Haywood our whole MLE. We should still have enough money to sign back Lowry and be under luxury tax. Miller might have to be let go though...
Even the biggest AB fan would say that it is unlikely that he will be among the likes of Kobe/Wade/Lebron/Dirk/Pierce/Duncan when it is all said and done. if you think AB has that ability, then we have been having a pointless debate.
The more I think about it, the more I think we should stand pat. If we can get a low cost asset and/or draft picks for T-Mac, go for it. If we take back so much salary that we can't re-sign Lowry and Scola (i.e...Iguodala, Butler or Martin plus bad contract filler) I say no way. Standing pat and signing Ray Allen or (gulp) Ginobili in the offseason and keeping Scola and Lowry seems like the best option to me. However, I'm by no means opposed to moving Ariza, Battier or Andersen.
PG is not our position of greatest need. Aaron Brook's weaknesses can be covered up by getting another playmaker on offense..battier and ariza are not playmakers.
OK so this is just a scenario? either AB or Lowry goes? How about we keep both? But if I had to choose AB no question. Why do we go into a decision where our best player is being shopped? How does that make sense?
So he's the scorer and will never "grow" to distribute the ball effectively in the closing seconds of crunch-time situations? It'll always be up to Aaron alone all the remainder of this season? Because he's the most proven scorer we have right now? But it's totally okay if he fails 3 out of 4 times he tries because it's his first year as a starting PG? Come on... point guards run the offense. They don't run alone to the bottom of the net, nor should they. I think a compromise can be reached between Aaron playing to the best of his scoring potential, and his playing to the best of his assisting potential. To focus on a balance of the two helps the Rockets more than prolific scoring from him, IMHO. Anyway, LOL - another issue is essentially what Rick Adelman keeps wondering/asking/saying in post-game. We need guys to step up. We need guys to step up. We need guys to step up. The Rockets post-game: where broken records happens (and not necessarily the good kinds of broken records).
The way I look at it, Brooks is a better player if the Rockets are forced to play the way the opponent wants us to play (low-energy, half-court team). If the Rockets play the way they want to play, Lowry becomes more valuable.
http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/appreciating_aaron_brooks_2010_02_08.html Nice article praising aaron brooks.
I didn't know Aaron was that strong. 70 lbs dumbell press is impressive for somebody his size. (no homo)
Why on earth would we trade AB i swear who ever post these blogs up are stupid...Why trade a player we need,Me personally don't see anything happening anytime soon... But a trade i would like to see is a Ray Allen for T-Mac trade...maybe the C's can throw another player in their to match salaries... :grin:
Ah true i was kind of overreacting on that one. I just hope the Rockets get some offensive help if/when a tmac trade goes down.
Right there with ya man. I asked Santa to help the Rockets get some offensive help... I guess the gifts fell out of the sleigh somewhere over China, and now they're back-ordered...
Thank you. Seriously the only guy who could his own shot, quick. future all star and a pretty good shooter. Why TRADE him??? I don't understand. We need a SF who can score and we don't need to give up a good pg/sg for that. if we get a big scoring sf AB will be an awesome compliment.
But he could be as good as Tony Parker or Chauncey Billups...right? Again it all depends upon whom you put around the team. Getting rid of your best player is flat out stupid unless you get one of like 5 superstars in the league, and that won't be happening. DD
